lake superior

Week 4 positive: Marquette, Michigan

There’s nothing like a good weekend road trip – even one that’s seven hours one-way in the car. It was worth every minute and the sore bum, though, because we had a blast. Nick and I loaded up Luma and all our winter gear and met up with our friends Jonathan + Meghan (and their pup, Sisu) for the drive east.

The guys raced the Noquemanon ski race (3rd AG + a legit gold cowbell for Nick!), which was shortened thanks to a lack of snow… in the UP where it snows almost daily during the winter. And, Meghan and I corralled the pups (including a trip to the vet for Luma; thank you, Animal Medical Center!) and took a school bus to the race finish line to cheer the guys in.

Other highlights: a few wintry windy runs along Lake Superior, dinner at the Piedmont, brunch at Sweet Water Café, post-race brews at Blackrocks Brewery, and a quick photo opp pitstop on the way out of town at the iconic red lighthouse (the wind was whipping off Superior… Luma was a trooper).

After Toughman’s bike disaster, I really wanted to race one more time before Kona. Mentally, I needed a confidence booster, rather than going into my A race a little shaky and, honestly, kinda questioning my abilities. So, once we found a great deal on a…

We’ve been cooped up in MSP the last month or so and since there isn’t a warm weather vacay on the calendar, Nick and I did the next best thing: Drove farther north to see the ice caves along Lake Superior. After a pit…